


The Child

by Jackb



Category: The Old Guard (Movie 2020)
Genre: Booker | Sebastien le Livre-centric, French Personality, Gen, Getting to Know Each Other, Introspection, Pre-Canon, aka 'hard shell soft heart'
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-16
Updated: 2020-09-16
Packaged: 2021-03-07 19:27:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,401
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26502889
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jackb/pseuds/Jackb
Summary: Booker in his early day, when he was still the newest immortal in town. Where the team learn to know him.
Relationships: Booker | Sebastien le Livre & Everyone
Comments: 3
Kudos: 45





	The Child

**Author's Note:**

> Since Booker is french and I’m french and the story happen in France I’ve decided to write the dialogue in french, don’t worry the traduction will follow each sentence, so you can still understand. I wrote the english first, then I made a trad in french, it’s not a perfect trad because like, we’re not in class lol, I don’t give a fuck to be absolutly exact. Also you won’t make me believe Andromache, Niccolo and Yusuf don’t know french. So here you go, everybody talk french :)
> 
> Booker is baby, must protect.

Dust cover the books. Sebastien know he will spend the entire day tomorrow to clean and sort his ever-growing collection of manuscripts, papers, encyclopedia and books. He’s been away for too long, he missed the smell of the aging page and ink.

His quest for answers lead him once again far away from his little library, a family business he claim. The briquet he exposes on the wall was not from his late grandfather, but the saber that saved his life more than once on the battlefield, but folks wouldn’t believe him if he told them it was his. It doesn’t matter much, except when he has to restrain himself from telling stories to the Angevins that come to buy a book or come read and study there and are too curious for his own good.

He sees someone take a look by the window, and know in a few days, if not right by the next morning his regular are going to knock at his door to inquire about his well-being and return from his eight months travel journey. He had hoped for few quiet days, but anyway, he will have to go to the market tomorrow buy some food. The new will be fast in town that the absent librarian is back. They will ask him for stories, wonder if he found anything interesting, and he will make sure to keep quiet his oddest and most peculiar finding.

It’s good to be home though, despite the chill of a rainy late autumn day that the warm stove can’t quite chase entirely for the evening.

The chicken broth will soon be ready for him and his guests, the other one like him, to share with some bread and cheese. A modest meal they will accompany with some old wine he left age.

He had been eager to meet them for a long time, maybe that’s why he left early this most enlightening library in Corinth, where he had passed a copious amount of time reading, to join Germany as he recognized the particular landscape of the Black Forest mountain in his dreams. They were within reach, and despite fears and worries, maybe it was time he met them. After years of searching fruitlessly in any books an answer to his questions, has to why, has to how, the idea of asking those plagued with the same.. Particularity as him for those answers overcame his anguish. It was time to stop running away.

It’s been a month now. And since, his dreams had almost returned to normal. When he said he wished to return in France, tired of traveling or maybe just because he wanted to go home, process it all in a place where he truly felt safe and content, they agreed and made the journey with him. For an instant he thought he would have to play the translator, but their French was impeccable.

During this whole time he kept prudent around them. Still not quite sure what to think of them. It wouldn’t take a genius to guess that making an immortal your enemy would be a god awful idea. He had been careful to set a good, yet distant relationship with the three of them, judging, pondering and adapting his own conduct accordingly. They were friendly, sure, but he had met a lot of friendly people in his life and for many it was a facade build on rotten roots.

He needed to know where they stood, because if they were going to stick around together for millennia, it was preferable to know how they saw things and what they believed in. Maybe it was because he was home and felt secure that tonight he felt bold enough to finally ask the questions that were gnawing at him for years. Even more so, since he met them and his recurring dreams had become more specific and precise and above all, more dreading.

He waited until the middle of their supper, when hunger had calmed a bit to finally ask.

« Je souhaitais vous poser une question, aucun de vous n’en a fait la mention, mais je pense qu’il serait important que je connaisse les lois. » ( _“I wanted to ask you a question, none of you mentioned it but I think it would be important to know what are the laws ?”_ ) His questions prompt them all to raise their nose from their meal. They’ve been pretty quiet after their long day on the road.

« Les Lois ? » ( _“The laws ?”_ ) Yusuf asks back.

« Oui, les lois, les règles de ce groupe, qu’est-ce qui est alloué et qu’est-ce qui est prohibé ? »( _“Yes the laws, the rules of this group, what’s allowed and what’s prohibited.”_ )

They looked at each other with hesitation, like they didn’t quite get what he was awaiting. Wondering what kind of answer, he could possibly want. After a few looks, Andromache spoke.

« Il est préférable si.. Les mortels n’ont pas connaissance que tu n’es pas des leurs. Nous avons tendance à éviter de le mentionner, il n’y a aucune raison valable de le dire à quelqu’un. » ( _“It’s preferable if.. Mortal, don’t know you’re not one. We tend to avoid telling people, there’s no reason to tell someone, not one that is worth it at least.”_ )

« Non, bien évidemment, je ne parlais pas de ça. »( _“No, yes, of course, I was not talking about that.”_ )

« Nous ne sommes pas bien sûr de ce dont tu veux parler. Nous n’avons pas réellement de règles, comme on te la mentionné, on se bat pour ce que l’on pense juste. » ( _“We’re not sure what you’re talking about, we don’t really have rules, like we told you, we fight for what we think is good.”_ )

Sebastien pushed his bowl aside, half annoyed. It was a simple question, nothing hard to understand.

« Ce que je veux dire c’est, y a-t-il certaine chose que je ne devrais pas faire au risque que vous me chassiez comme un animal, m’attachiez et m’enterriez vivant aussi profondément que vous le pourrez ou bien m’enfermer dans une cage pour ensuite me jeter dans l’eau pour qui sais combien de temps afin que je me noie encore et encore et encore. » ( _“What I mean is, what are the things I shouldn’t do or else you’re going to hunt me down tie me and bury me alive as deep as you can or lock me in a cage and throw me in the water for who know how long for me to drown over and over and over.”_ ) He took a heavy breath. « Ou encore, m’emmurer dans un endroit reculer et m’oublier. » ( _“Or immure me somewhere remote and forget about me.”_ ) He feels all of them draw back at his examples, staring at him with worry and perplexity. He pauses a moment before pursuing. « Concrètement, qu’est-ce qui pourrait vous pousser à infliger une telle punition ? C’est ce que j’essaie de savoir. » ( _“What would push such a punishment ? That’s what I’m trying to find out.”_ )

« Pourquoi ? Que comptes-tu faire de si atroce pour susciter une telle question ? » ( _“Why ? In what way do you wish to act to prompt such a question ?”_ ) Yusuf inquire, suspicious. Andromache feels awfully distant.

« Je ne dis pas que j’ai envie de faire des choses atroces, je me demande juste où vous avez mis les limites. Je ne souhaite point me retrouver dans la même position que cette femme engloutie. » ( _“I’m not saying I want to do horrible things, I’m just asking where you’ve put the limit. I don’t particularly want to find myself in the same position as this woman underwater.”_ ) They stare at him. « Celle dans la dame de fer. » ( _“The one in the iron coffin.”_ )

Andromache slams her wrist on the table, making Sebastien jump in surprise.

« Nous ne ferions.. » ( _“We would..”_ ) She breath. « Nous ne ferions jamais une telle chose. Jamais nous n’enterrions l’un des notre, ni l’emmurer, ou le piéger quelque part. Elle, Quynh.. Ce n’est pas nous qui l’avons condamné de cette façon. » ( _“We would never do that, never bury one of us, never immure one of us, never trap one of us anywhere. She, Quynh.. It wasn’t us.”_ )

« Nous craignons d’être capturés, nous n’imposerions jamais ceci à l’un des nôtres. » ( _“We all dread capture and we would not impose it on one of us.”_ )

There’s a long pause. An uncomfortable one.

« Je rêve d’elle, comme j’ai rêvé de chacun d’entre vous. » ( _“I dream about her, like I did all of you.”_ ) He says more quietly.

« Ce qu’elle a fait.. » ( _“What she did..”_ ) Andromache starts with bitterness in her voice. « .. Son seul crime a été d’être immortelle. Ils l’ont découvert, ils l’ont emmené et jeté à la mer. » ( _“Her only crime was to be immortal. They found out, they took her and thrown her in the sea.”_ ) She stares at Sebastien now, a piercing, chilling glare. « J’ai.. Nous l’avons cherchée depuis. Donc la règle que tu demandes est celle-ci : ne laisse personne découvrir que tu es immortel. » ( _‘I’ve.. We’ve been searching for her since then. So I guess the rule you’re asking for is : don’t let anyone find out you’re immortal.”_ )

Both Niccolo and Yusuf nob in approval.

« Depuis combien de temps êtes-vous à sa recherche ? » ( _“How long have you been searching for her ?”_ )

« Nous avons été capturées en Angleterre, durant la chasse aux sorcières. » ( _“We were caught during England Witch trial.”_ )

He is well aware of the history, it’s not difficult to calculate how long. The dread rest heavily on his chest as he nob. The quietness resume as he fills back their glasses with more wine, then proceed to empty half his own.

It’s as they finish their meal that Andromache talk again.

« Depuis combien de temps vis-tu ici ? » ( _“How long have you been living here ?”_ )

« Ça fait.. Quatre-vingt-trois ans. » ( _“About.. eighty-three years.”_ )

« Il va être temps pour toi de bouger. » ( _“Maybe it’s time you move.”_ )

« Pourquoi ferais-je une telle chose ? C’est une bonne ville, j’ai tous mes livres ici. J’aime cet endroit. » ( _“Why would I ? It’s a good place, I have all of my books here. I like this place.”_ )

« Les gens ne sont-ils pas curieux de savoir pourquoi tu ne vieillis point ? » ( _“Aren’t people curious about why you don’t age ?”_ )

« Je l’ai construit comme une affaire de famille, mon grand-père a fondé cette bibliothèque, je ne vois pas pourquoi je ne pourrais pas continuer. Je suis prudent quand il s’agit de changer de génération. » ( _“I build it as a family business, my grandfather founded this library, I don’t see why I couldn’t continue, I’m careful when it’s about time to change generation.”_ )

« ça ne fonctionnera pas bien plus longtemps, tu dois changer d’endroit, c’est plus sûr » ( _“It won’t work for too much longer, you must move, it’s more secure.”_ )

« Je n’ai pas envie de bouger, c’est ma maison. » ( _“I don’t want to move, that’s my home.”_ ) Sebastien is on the defensive now, he understands the concern, he thought of it, a lot, but he doesn’t think the time has come yet. But they know better, don’t they ?

Niccolo catch his attention by touching his arm.

« On peut t’aider à déplacer tous tes livres ailleurs. » ( _“We can help you move your books somewhere else.”_ )

« Non, non, je ne bougerai pas d’ici. » ( _“No, no, I’m not moving away.”_ )

« Il n’y a pas d’urgence, tu peux encore rester quelques années. Trois, quatre je dirais. » ( _“Well it’s not too urgent, you can stay a few years. About three or four.”_ ) Andromache continues. « Mais ensuite, il va falloir que tu déménages loin d’ici.) ( _“But then you should move.”_ )

« Vous ne pouvez pas me forcer à partir d’ici. » ( _“You can’t force me to leave.”_ )

The three oldest immortal give each other a look. They understand the problematic, they faced it countless times over the century, they know it’s difficult for the first times. But Sebastien must understand the importance of moving often enough so people don’t get suspicious as to why you don’t age.

« Les livres s’enflamment particulièrement bien. ( _“Books are very flammable.”_ ) She stares at him, her threat is simple and without any animosity but it makes Sebastien furious. And she smirks at his expression.

« J’ai passé des décennies à construire cette collection, j’ai des livres rares, il est hors de question que tu les brulent. » ( _“I’ve spent decades building this collection, I have a lot of rare books, you do not burn it.”_ ) He’s heated now and the trio realize they’ve touched to something important, vital even for their comrade. It was not difficult to guess after all, looking at his place, it’s pretty clear books are of high importance for Sebastien.

« Comme on te la dit, on t’aidera à déplacer ta collection ailleurs. » ( _“Like we said, we will help you move your collection somewhere else.”_ ) Yusuf reassures him.

« Et aussi.. Tu devrais considérer ne pas mettre toutes tes possessions au même endroit. » ( _“And.. maybe don’t keep all your things in the same place.”_ ) Niccolo add.

« De toute façon, combien de temps penses-tu être capable de garder ta collection intacte ? » ( _“Anyway, how long do you think you will be able to keep it intact ?”_ ) Andromache grabs a book and Sebastien is a bit wary, but she is careful as she opens it and turn the pages. « Ne penses-tu pas qu’à un certain point tu auras accumulé bien trop pour pouvoir bouger aisément ? Un jour tu devras laisser des choses derrière toi. » ( _“Don’t you think at some point you will accumulate too much to be able to move easily ? You will ultimately have to let some things behind.”_ )

She hands him the book she picked and he takes the time to clean the cover from the dust, thoroughly. He doesn’t look at them, reflecting on their words. He knows they are right, but he is not really ready to accept it. He doesn’t want to imagine losing what he has built, what he has. But he guesses he will have to prepare for it, some days. They don’t push more on the matter.

There is not much more to say anyway.

Sleep is difficult that night, and when he awake, the familiar taste of salt in his mouth is a sick remembers that maybe he’s been in the same place for too long, and that the home he loved and felt secure in for decades might be one he will soon have to leave behind for his security. He cannot risk an iron coffin.

**Author's Note:**

> If the dialogue were unreadable and you have suggestion to make it better, I'm taking them.
> 
> I may add a few more chapter, other 'moment of life' ones, but you can consider this chapter an end.


End file.
